Admission
Admission Interns
Molly Case '12
Over time, I've found myself to be a tried and true New Englander: I'm pretty straightforward, I go into withdrawal if I go too long without any maple sugar candy and occasionally suffer from road rage (meaning I grumble at people from inside my car). I also drink 'frappes' and sometimes say wicked. So what made me choose Reed, and willingly put 3,000 miles between myself and my favorite part of the country? I love adventure, new places, and change, and when I visited Reed College, I had a vision of myself wearing laurels as a senior, triumphantly marching up to Eliot Hall.
Now my senior year has arrived! I'm an economics major (which was unexpected), and I think I'm even a little bit of a West Coaster! Portland has swayed me with its fun, laid-back and welcoming atmosphere, and Reed has captured my heart. I spent a semester in Florence, Italy during my sophomore year, and even while I was having the time of my life, I knew I couldn't wait to get back to Reed. Whether I'm studying in a tiny coffeeshop, eating a delicious cupcake at Cupcake Jones, accidentally spending hours browsing Powell's, going to a concert with friends, or just watching some trashy TV (a favorite pastime of mine), there's always something fun to do.
On campus, I'm a member of Reed's curling team, so once a week I shuffle onto an ice rink in the middle of a shopping mall and sweep the ice like mad! I also enjoy drinking way too much Paradox coffee, finding new places to study, and dancing all night at Daft Ball. I love cardigans, giant rings, baking cookies, and glitter.
Any questions about Reed, economics, frappes, study abroad, or glitter? Ask me anytime! I'd love to hear from you, so don't be shy!
McKenzie Funk '12
I come from a tiny town in the pastoral state of Iowa. I am often expected to know much more about corn and, I dunno, pigs than I really do. It was one of those places that, in retrospect, was a good place to grow up, but as a senior in high school I couldn't wait to leave. Reed seemed like a place filled with everything I thought I wanted (Books! People! Irony! Tight Pants! Flannel!). And it was in a city and not in the Midwest, so that was nice.
Now I'm a senior. I've been here for nearly four years! I've changed quite a bit (all good changes, natch). I'm basically the same person, just, you know, better. I'm a Classics major. I am tiny, but I have big hair. I live in the upstairs of pinkish house with a friend and black cat I call Cat who is not mine. I cook and bake and eat tasty things as often as possible. I spend each morning with an old Hispanic man named George who tries to break my nose (I box). I love Star Trek but don't think I'm a nerd. I recently bought a pair of the most atrociously gold clogs. I was a Renn Fayre Czar, and have a more deeply nostalgic love of glitter than I ever expected. I've hung out with Spank Rock in The Office. I really like houseplants. I'm occasionally lazy, and frequently and embarrassingly lock myself out of my house.
So that is me and this is my last year at Reed. Reed has shaped the person that I am, and I have done things I've never expected to do. My image of Reed has changed since my first year, but it is still a happy one, and one I enjoy sharing. So get in touch! I love answering emails that allow me to put off work.
Also, Portland is pretty great too.
Nia Heffelfinger '12
Pacific Northwest native from the state of Washington, one could say that I've become well acquainted with the rain. I have walked out in rain and back in rain. Green and gray are familiar hues in my environmental color scheme, but the wet is something that I will never get accustomed to. So why, do you ask, have I ended up at Reed College in Portland, OR, the city with an average of 37.5 inches of rain per year?
Because, to be completely honest, my life would suck without Reed College. Let me explain. At the end of my sophomore year, I shamelessly decided that the Kelly Clarkson song My Life Would Suck Without You perfectly describes my relationship with Reed. (Cause we belong together now / forever united here somehow / you got a piece of me and honestly / my life would suck without you). Had I chosen to attend any other college for my secondary education, nothing would have been as perfect a fit as Reed is for me. Nowhere else have I been simultaneously challenged, frustrated, and inspired by my work as I have been here.
From the serendipitous moment I picked up the viewbook, something clicked. Ironically, the line "Reed is not for everyone" was incredibly reassuring. Reed didn't want every prospective college freshman in the United States, and that alone made a more distinct impression on me than any other college I was interested in. Now that I'm here, I love the fact that my academic abilities are taken seriously, questioned, and challenged. After waffling between a major in History, Spanish, or English Lit, I finally decided this spring to pursue an interdisciplinary degree in History/Literature.
When I'm not busy studying, I enjoy tinkering with my bike, baking pie, dancing in the student-run Dance Troupe, getting excited over Spanish literature, tutoring freshmen in writing and biology, and answering emails from people like you! If you have any questions about Reed, about adjusting from living in a small island town in the Puget Sound to the slightly bigger pond that is Portland, or how you could ever possibly decide what to study, send me an email! My computer is practically attached to my fingers, so getting in touch with me is much easier than rocket science. I look forward to hearing from you!
Sharon Heichman '13
I grew up in a small Gold Rush town in the most politically conservative county in California. Thus, given the rather limited resources of my high school’s college counseling office, Reed was not even on my radar until the beginning of my senior year. A friend of mine had relatives who lived close by Reed and told me that there was this college that I absolutely needed to look into. A few days later—somewhat serendipitously—my mother happened to stumble upon Reed’s blurb. As the two of us read a little more about the college, we could not believe how perfect the fit seemed to be. Call it what you will (I call it a sign), but off to Portland we went!
An immediate sense of excitement and happiness washed over me from the moment I set foot on campus. The day was sunny and bright (a little unusual for Portland, it must be admitted) and I just couldn’t believe how enthusiastic and friendly everyone was.
My visit happened to fall on the night before the first-year students had to turn in their first Humanities 110 paper. My host had decided to bring me to her friend’s dorm so that I could meet more current students; when we arrived, the common room was abuzz with academic fervor and frenzied typing. Here were the last-minute workers, those who had formulated the ideas for their papers but had few actual words to their pages with only twenty-four hours left before they would be due in their conference leader’s mailbox. Everyone provided as much help as they could to their fellow writers, and the environment seemed extremely conducive to cooperative productivity. I was so impressed by how academically energized all of the freshman were, despite the stress of the rapidly approaching deadline, that I almost wished I could have joined them in their writing party!
To this day, the cooperative academic environment is one of my favorite things about Reed. I have friends from many majors, most different from my own, and I find that we are constantly doing our homework together. Despite the fact that most of us aren’t in any of the same classes, we always find little ways to help each other out in areas where we have our own strengths.
Now for a little about me: I am a psychology major who is taking required pre-med classes as I am hoping to matriculate to medical school after I graduate from Reed. I also spend my time working with the Theatre Department, tutoring other students in Introductory Biology, Chemistry, and Psychology, teaching local elementary school students from a supplementary science curriculum, and volunteering with local hospitals and clinics.
If you have any questions for me about any of my specific interests or involvements or about anything else you can possibly think of, please feel free to drop me an email! I’d love to chat with you.
Alexi Horowitz '13
Not too long ago, in a crusty, backwater bar in Mazatlan, Mexico, I received perhaps the most life altering e-mail I’ve ever had the honor of opening. My compatriot Maxwell and I had just driven over 1000 thousand miles along the Baja coastline down many a long and lonesome highway, dodging burros and Federales as skillfully, I like to think, as Pancho Villa himself. At long last we had finally reached Mazatlan, the endpoint of our journey, a mystical name that had beckoned us our entire senior year of high school with promises of adventure and a little breathing room from life back in our hometown of Santa Fe, New Mexico. After a day well spent playing in the waves of the Pacific Ocean, we sauntered, our bellies filled with taco meat and bacon wrapped hot dogs, into a place called El Gallo Tavern for a glass of horchata and a chance to check our e-mail. I sat down to an ancient computer in the corner of the bar and, battling a glacial Internet connection, succeeded in navigating to my inbox. At first I saw only the normal deluge of high school announcements and concerned messages from my parents (Where in Mexico are you?!), but after a moment or two I noticed an unassuming message hidden at the bottom of the list, a message from Reed College. I took a long, deep breath and after a few moments of dramatic pause, I clicked it. The first word, much to my relief, was Congratulations! I immediately slumped back into my seat, a strange calm washing over me, for I knew then and there that my journeys were just beginning.
I have always lived my life like I am the protagonist of some great adventure story. For me, life is best when I find myself in unfamiliar waters. I fancy myself, depending on the circumstances, a cowboy, a pirate, a Sufi mystic-in training, a writer, a historian and scholar, but first and foremost I see myself as an explorer, of spaces both physical and conceptual. I strive, above all, to live fully and without hesitation, openhearted and open-minded to new people and ideas and experiences, and both in my academic and non-academic life I seek to challenge my assumptions about the world and to seek new perspectives.
In keeping with this drive, I took a year off before coming to Reed to work and to float across Asia and Europe. I left the U.S. the day after President Obama’s election and spent the rest of the year motorcycling through the jungles of Vietnam, climbing mountains in Nepal, walking the banks of the Ganges River in India. In Morocco, I holed up in a variety of hilariously terrifying hotel rooms, writing fiction and listening to Moroccan radio.
My life at Reed has been quite a shift from my days of windblown wandering but if there is anything that I have learned and loved about Reed College, it is that the spirit of exploration and curiosity abounds here. I came to Reed for the same reason that I was drawn to travel, because I wanted to challenge myself. I wanted to surround myself with people who would shatter my preconceptions about life, who would expose me to a spectrum and diversity of thought I had never before encountered or imagined. I wanted to live and grow everyday inside a shifting prism of worldviews in a community of sharp, deeply reflective, and insatiably curious young minds. So when I got that e-mail in a bar in Mazatlan, I knew that I had found the right place, and if there is anything I can say about my time at Reed it is that every day has been a new and exciting adventure, intellectually and in any every other way. If you'd like to talk about history or travel or anything else under the sun (or endless rain clouds), please feel free to contact me.
Nora Jones '12
I believe that three things can save the world: love, education, and rock and roll. This may seem like a “hippie” thing to say, but for me, it’s totally true: without love, I would have no motivation; without education, I would have no substance; and without rock and roll, I would have no fun. Growing up in a very small, very conservative town taught me the importance of having these three things in my household, and now that I’m here at Reed, I’m experiencing each one of them on a much larger scale than I ever did before.
Let’s talk about love for a second. To put it mildly, love abounds at Reed College. It exists in the classroom in the form of the intense dedication that the professors have to their subjects and their students. It exists between students in the form of the fantastically supportive community we form. It exists in our student government, in our clubs, and in our friends (although, at a certain point, we become family). Love gets me through the day: my friends are an essential support system, my classes (which I adore) are the reason I’m here, and this campus with all of its lush greenery and quirky Reed spectacles inspires such a feeling of pride and gratitude in me every time I step outside that I can’t imagine trusting any other institution with these four important years of my life. After all, one of our many official mottos is “love Reed” for a reason—it’s not an instruction, but rather just a statement of fact. To go here is to feel that love, and that’s pretty cool.
Now, education. I came to Reed knowing, of course, that I was going to get one. However, I was completely unaware of how many levels that education would have. Of course I took Hum 110 and am now well-versed in the classical foundation of any Reedie’s education. I do mountains of reading every night and write volumes on my subjects. I would still say, however, that about 99 percent of the things I have learned here at Reed have happened outside the classroom. I have discovered more about myself than I thought there was to learn, and I’m confident that anyone who comes here will embark on the same journey of self-discovery that I did.
The last one, rock and roll, is personal. I’m a music major, and rock and roll is why. I grew up around the 1960s classics, which I think helped to shape the music lover I’ve become, but I must confess that it wasn’t until I got to Reed that I really decided to devote my life to it. I can actually pinpoint the moment in which this happened: the Kinks were blaring and I was surrounded by my closest friends, and I experienced an epiphany so great that one could write ten theses on it (stay tuned for my thesis to find out more!).
So what's my point in all this? Reed is a perfect place for someone like me who places a huge value on love, education, and whatever it is they are passionate about. I'm so lucky to have found this place, and I'm always there to gush a little bit to anyone who will listen.
Dáire MacFadden '12
To begin with the beginning, my name: Dáire. Hello. At the time of writing I am beginning my fourth year at this here Reed Institute. And as of a month ago, I am a student of religion--a late convert. I spent the first three years living in my historical imagination, reflecting a lifelong feeling of untimeliness. I'd like to have been born a century ago. So when I tell people of my origins, I like to insert a few light embellishments. I was born in Hibernia (that is, medieval Ireland), raised on the high seas, my life divided between Holland and Singapore. When that was done--newly freed from the tentacles of high school--I packed my bag with books and in search of solitude, I fled to Argentina. That seems like a long time ago now. But at some point I heard about Reed, and it fast became my most probable suitor. I was drawn to the promise of intellectual leaps and bounds. And intellectual leaps and bounds Reed has delivered. But in between classes and books and conversations, I've found some great ways to make myself useful to this community, meanwhile enlarging my definition of self, learning, and responsibility.
Write to me if you want to talk more about studying religion (by some mysterious phenomenon we don't often get inquiries from students expressly interested in religion)--or just religion in general--life on the high seas (more specifically, international students), a traditional liberal arts education (why Reed and not another small liberal arts college?), the Honor Principle (virtue, duty, obligation), or human-powered locomotion (bicycles).
Your confidant in the admission office,
Dáire
Alan Montecillo '13
If you ask me where I’m from, I’ll often start with “um...” and a confused look on my face. I was born in New York to Filipino parents, but when I was five we moved to Hong Kong, where I attended an international school for thirteen years. I grew up as part of an elite social class of foreigners whose lives were permeated with luxury, travel, and fancy internships. It was a fantastic life, and I’m very thankful for it. But a byproduct of my upbringing is that I’ve never had a “home” in the traditional sense of the word.
I originally came to Reed for the rigorous academics, but I was deathly worried that I was doomed to live as a foreigner again. On paper, I didn’t seem to fit “Reed culture”. But this wonderful place has surprised me, time after time – and all of my fears, misconceptions, and expectations seem like a distant memory. I came to Reed expecting to major in English, History, or Political Science. Instead, I fell in love with studying the culture I grew up with but never truly got to know – Chinese. I didn’t think I’d ever enjoy life in America, but I’ve learned to embrace living here in Portland (ask me for restaurant recommendations!). And I was afraid that my Christian faith would wither and die in the land of “Communism, Atheism, Free Love”, but it has actually been deepened and nurtured in amazing ways.
During my freshman convocation, the then-student body president offered one major piece of advice: make Reed your own. Two years ago, I would tell you that I came to Reed because of reasons A, B, and C – bullet points and observations that I gleaned from the viewbook or my campus visit. While all of those things are still true, I would now say that there’s only one reason why I’m here: Reed is my home right now. This is the community I want to love, serve, and be a part of.
Why? Well, to say that coming to Reed was the best decision of my life seems a little strange (not to mention incredibly cheesy), because I have no idea what the other paths would have looked like. But what I can tell you is that I always want to grow and get better. I want to be more compassionate, more intelligent, more understanding. To that end, Reed inspires and challenges me to grow every day, and has changed my life in ways that I don’t even think I fully realize yet. That, in short, is why this is home.
When I’m not studying Chinese literature, working at the Admission office, or talking about myself too much, I’m singing in the a cappella group or working as a leader in Oh For Christ’s Sake, the Christian student organization. I’m also a House Advisor in Sullivan Hall, where I try to promote and facilitate community in the dorm. After college, I hope to pursue a career in journalism, education, or not-for-profit work in developing countries.
That’s the big picture of my Reed story so far, but there’s a lot that won’t fit in this box. Want to know more? I’m one of those people who checks his email every five minutes, so feel free to contact me at any time about anything.
Laura Naraguma '13
When I first heard of Reed, I was at the Groton School, a small boarding school outside of Boston. I loved my school for its small classes, its quirky traditions, and the friendships I developed with my teachers and classmates. This intimacy is one of the things that drew me to Groton and eventually to Reed, too. I also needed to move to somewhere new. I had never lived anywhere for longer than four years in my life, and I have been on the east coast on and off for 8 years. I was itching for something new and it was time to make the jump to the other coast. I wanted a new environment, new people, and new challenges…so I came out west!
All of my life I have been a sort of nomad. It is a strange situation to be in when you’re a kid but I wouldn’t change it for the world. I was born in Bujumbura, Burundi but left during the civil war. We first went to Brussels, Belgium, where we had family and then Fayetteville, Arkansas where my dad was working on his PhD. After he graduated, we moved to Austin, Texas where I acquired a passionate love for tex-mex food and country music. From there we moved to Rye, NY, right outside of New York City in Westchester county, and then finally back to Austin.
Austin is my chosen home, it is an amazing city to live and play in. I think it has completely earned its title as the live music capital of the world--there is never a dull moment. Having said this, boarding school was the right decision for me. I feel like I really needed the structure that it offered so I could figure out what was important to me; something we’re always figuring out! I think coming to Reed was another step towards that end. I wanted a place where I would be encouraged to explore my diverse and varied academic and social interests and where I would be given the skills and tools to do so successfully.
Zuzu Ogden '12
My dad became convinced that Reed was the perfect school for me sometime around 1992, when I was three years old. We lived two blocks away from campus, and every afternoon he would strap my sister and I into our stroller and go for a run that took him across the Front Lawn. We moved to Vermont when I was six, and I didn't hear anything about Reed for the next ten years. Then, suddenly, I began receiving Portland-themed presents- a Powell's t-shirt, a book by an Oregon author, and one day, a Reed College Admission catalogue. Sixteen year old me was resistant to the idea of being told what to do and where to go, and so I gave the information only the briefest of skims before moving on. My father would have respected any college choice I made, but he still set up a visit for me a few months later. Stepping out of the car and into Eliot Circle, it felt like I'd come home. Driving back to our hotel, I admitted to my dad that he had been right all along, and Reed was indeed the perfect school for me.
Now I'm entering my senior year, and I'm beginning to realize how much Reed has shaped who I am. It taught me to be confident in my thoughts and beliefs, to keep a sense of humor about my work, and to approach every problem from multiple angles. I am surrounded by people who constantly surprise me, whether it's the brilliant chemistry professor expressing excitement over the most recent episode of Project Runway, the quietest girl in my class arguing passionately (and loudly) about Plato, or the boy I've never talked to before giving me a hug because I “looked like I'd had a long day.”
Reed has led me to surprise myself as well. I came to Reed a Religion major, but took Intro Chemistry and loved it so much I decided to major in it. In the classes I've taken here I've had the chance to debate the Gnostic Gospels, synthesize salicylic acid, and develop an unexpected love for Economics. Students here don't just come into class having done the reading, they come in having formed opinions about it. Our ideas are challenged by our professors and peers, but always taken seriously. Most importantly, we find ways to enjoy ourselves, even during finals week.
When I'm not in class, I can be found talking about chemistry to innocent bystanders, going to punk shows, playing with my pet bunnies, exploring Portland's neighborhoods, doing the New York Times Daily Crossword, blues dancing, and playing trivia games. If you have questions about science at Reed (or in general), the music scene in Portland, or life, the universe, and everything, shoot me an e-mail.
When I came to visit Reed at the end of my senior year, the cherry blossoms were in bloom. As I drove up to campus with my parents and the bright pink flowers came into view, I started crying. This was it. Admittedly, I'm kind of a crier anyway (I've been known to shed a tear at commercials for Extreme Makeover Home Edition), but something about being at Reed just felt so right to me that I couldn't help but get a little misty-eyed.
Even though I instantly felt a connection to this place, I also knew that I wanted to branch out on my own a little before I actually became a student here. I had struck a bargain with my parents during my sophomore year of high school that no matter what, I wasn't going to go to college right away. My heart was set on going to South America--another one of those intuitive, deep-in-the-gut feelings I just couldn't ignore. Reed was really receptive to my taking a gap year, and so after graduation, I got to work saving up to go abroad.
I ended up spending a few months in Peru living with a host family and volunteering at an all-boys orphanage in Cuzco. I fell so completely in love with the city that I went back the summer after my freshman year for two months (this time with a friend from home). Taking a year off was the best decision I could have made--I came to Reed with a perspective on the world much broader than the one I had gained in high school, and I got to nurture my love of traveling. And when I got here, I was even more grateful and excited for this experience than I could have imagined that April afternoon a year and a half before.
Now that I'm at Reed, I've discovered so many other loves that I'm attempting to nurture (one of the most unexpected has been sociology, my major). Outside of academia, I spend a lot of my time cooking food, eating food, reading food blogs, and just generally thinking about food (imagine my joy at being in a class called "Food in American History"!). Sometimes I don't go out on the weekends because I get too caught up making my own cheese or baking plum tarts--but don't worry, I do still go out. Also, living in Portland is amazing for its eclectic food culture, and I have even been lucky enough to work at the city's biggest farmers' market selling delicious berries and vegetables. Beyond food, I also really love Bruce Springsteen, and fortunately there is a group of kindred spirits here who will indulge my desire to partake in late-night, intensely heartfelt Boss sing-a-longs. Oh, how well Reed has treated me.
So that's the story in a nutshell of how I fell in love with Reed, the path I took to get here, and what it's been like since settling down in Portland. You should definitely get in touch with me if you have any questions about taking a gap year, where to eat in Portland (especially if you're vegetarian or vegan), or the social sciences in general. I would absolutely love to hear from you!
Robert Shryock '13
I grew up in Holland, Michigan. It is a town of 34,000 with 170 churches, a town famous mainly for its tulip festival, and a town where 90% of the high school graduates went to a state school in Michigan. As I approached my senior year in high school, I knew that I wouldn’t be happy doing what all my classmates were doing. I also knew I wouldn’t be happy just going to an ivy league school or some other prestigious east coast school just because that’s what I felt like I should do—I wanted someplace different, even if it meant that I would spend the rest of my Christmases at home being asked if Reed was a community college.
I visited a lot of places, but when I visited Reed, I felt for the first time like I really wanted to go somewhere. But as the time approached to actually attend college, I became worried that I wouldn’t fit in at Reed. Would I, a weirdo from the Midwest, really be able to fit in with the generic arty coastals that I imagined to be the population of Reed?
The answer was given to me on my first day at school, and turned out to be a definitive yes. I went to the dorm meeting at five pm with my roommate, and was surprised to see that Reedies were not as I imagined them. They were from places as near as Bend, Oregon, and as far away as Dhaka, Bangledesh. They were all enthusiastic, kind, and brilliant, and not a single one of them was wearing black.
In high school, I often felt that people didn’t really like me for who I was, but that they instead liked me because I was funny, or because I was simply there and tolerable. I often felt that I had to hide certain things from people in order to make them like me. I could only share that I was a writer with the arty kids, that I liked to cook with my non-bro friends, and that I played tabletop science fiction strategy games with the people who played those games. I had to be a different person in all those situations. But at Reed, I could be who I wanted all the time, and was never judged for it. I can write fiction (or manifestos about anti-Islamic prejudice in our society), roast my own coffee, and play hours of Dominion, and be the same person in all of these activities. My friends here like me as a whole person, not just as a writer-person or a board games-person, but as myself. And that’s the great thing about Reed: people love you for who you are, and you never need to be embarrassed about being you.
So if you have questions about fitting in at Reed, (not) fitting in at high school, coming to Reed from the Midwest, religious studies, or coffee roasting, drop me an email. It’d be great to get to know you.
Mamie Stevenson '12
I was one of those overachievers who applied to fourteen schools my senior year of high school. And of course, I applied for college in the hardest year to get accepted in all of history—2008: The Apocalypse. After applying early decision elsewhere and being denied admission, I told my parents that I was never going to set foot in an ivory tower… I would spend the rest of my life in Africa or in a lab curing cancer. But my parents encouraged me to keep my head up, to look into other options, and most of all to think about how hard it would be without a learning environment after twelve years of asking for extra homework assignments.
In January of 2008, I received an email from Reed Admission Counselor, Melinda Brown, telling me that she would be in Boulder conducting interviews. I set up a time to meet her and changed my outfit five times before leaving the house. When I sat down with Melinda, I was immediately comforted by her smile and her laid back approach to the interview. It felt more like a conversation than anything else, and I realized that we had a lot of similar interests. We both were from Colorado, we both loved to study English literature, and we both had a particular interest in female authors. But what really struck me was that Melinda wrote her thesis on a woman named Katherine Mansfield, whom I had read only weeks before. I was elated after the interview. Reed was quickly promoted to my number one choice.
Since coming here, I have taken a breadth of courses from Hum 110 to Intro Bio to a number of Russian classes. I have felt truly embraced by both the English Literature and Russian Language/Literature departments. I have been involved in Reed's Queer Alliance, Feminist Student Union and I have written for Reed's newspaper, The Quest. I have made some close friends and experienced the amazing city of Portland.
Reed has been a good place for me. Coming from an all-girls Catholic high school in suburban Denver, I knew that I wanted college to be an open-minded, liberal atmosphere where my individuality would be embraced. Though I worried about the course load and the intense reading assignments for class, I have never felt more confident about learning. I have been challenged by every single class. I have felt encouraged by every professor and I have learned a lot about myself by being on my own.
Also, don't be scared… Hum 110 is like the best class ever.
Finn Terdal '13
Discourse is my favorite activity. Discourse is the means by which we, as a group, come to understand the world around us and our place within it. Discourse is as necessary for human knowledge as are synapses for a brain’s cognition. Discourse is the mutually beneficial exchange of information between two or more minds, each of which would starve without it.
While discourse is my favorite activity, sophistry is my greatest fear. Sophistry is a tainted and diseased mockery of true discourse. Sophistry is that infection whereby one party is convinced of some claim, not by virtue of its own content, but instead by empty words arranged so as to give the illusion of fullness.
Just to state the obvious, I’m a philosophy major. I became acquainted with philosophy through my participation in high school debate. In constructing an argument for a debate case, it was often necessary to read philosophical texts, and a debater who was unfamiliar with Locke or Mill would not last long. Debate was incredibly fun. There’s just no thrill like waiting outside of a room before the debate begins, sizing up one’s opponent(s), chatting casually before battle. But a battle it was, and there could only be one victor. Debate is an unavoidably confrontational activity, and there is no room for compromise.
After a time, my growing aptitude for debate became worrisome. Many judges apparently found me convincing, but for what reason? I would occasionally find myself making arguments that were convincing to judges, but not to me. Either I was mistakenly unconvinced by these arguments, or the judges were mistakenly convinced by them. If the former, then my ability to evaluate even my own arguments was flawed (a cause for worry). If the latter, then I was the source of a sophistry infection (a cause for panic).
This concern spread beyond my role as a debater. The same problem began to arise among my interactions with peers, where we were each other’s judge. Neither my own faculties nor those of my peers could be completely trusted. (Cue the skeptic). Could I ignore the possibility that my peers and I were both mistakenly convinced by some incorrect argument? How many of my certain beliefs were infected and which ones?
Sometimes it’s best not to respond to the skeptic. I decided that the best remedy would be to attempt to improve my own faculties, and to seek peers with faculties better than my own. Fortunately, these two goals have proven to be mutually reinforcing. At Reed, I have encountered peers who are experts at discourse. I have been proven wrong by these peers more times than I can count. There are many reasons to love Reed. This is one of them.
Send me an email. Start some discourse.
Elisabeth Thomas '13
Two years ago, on the red couch in the dorm common room, I took my first derivative. I like to look back on this moment and deliberately remember it, for it was unexpected. The word “unexpected” has come to describe my relationship with Reed College quite fittingly. As a home-schooled high school student who quit doing my disastrously difficult algebra homework in 10th grade and instead focused on perfecting my talents in art and music, I never expected that I would now be in my third year of studying physics at one of the most challenging, top-rate schools in the country.
My journey to Reed began when I was taking an English class at a local community college during my junior year of high school. In that class, I wrote a research paper on a topic that I knew absolutely nothing about – the Chernobyl disaster. While I was researching, I found the schematics of the nuclear reactors to be quite interesting, and consequently discovered nuclear physics. It was then that I decided to become a physics major. Over the course of the year, I found out that the mysterious field of physics required an understanding of math, and forced myself to learn algebra over winter break.
At the end of the summer before senior year, I googled the sentence “colleges with a nuclear reactor,” and Reed was the first result. After a long year of worrying about my application and wondering if I would be accepted, I finally received my email that told me I was a freshman of the class of ’13.
Today, after my potentially foolish and incredibly risky decision to become a physics major, I am in love with both my major and the school where I chose to study. I have accomplished one of my main goals in coming to Reed: to become a reactor operator. I have finally learned calculus and have made a few circuits start smoking during lab. That, so far, is a small bit of my unexpected experience with Reed College.
It should be known that I’m an awesome person to talk to if you’re coming to Reed as a home-schooler. I also know a fair amount about physics, Reed in general, the Pacific Northwest (I grew up here), and the love of my life – reactor. I love to talk with people about Reed, so please email me if you have any questions!
I don't really like bios… or at least the standard bio that most people write-up when trying to describe themselves. I believe in anecdotal explanation, which is why if you catch me giving a tour (or just talk to me for more than two minutes, for that matter) I will relate story after story to try and provide you with some sort of tangible essence that explains me… or Reed… or whatever it is that I'm trying to explicate. I can tell you about the time I hitchhiked from Amsterdam, Netherlands to Bern, Switzerland; I once met Joanna Newsom on Charles Bridge and nearly fainted; the only time I've been on first class I passed out in front of the flight attendant while walking to the bathroom; I almost got into a law dispute with Danish film maker Lars von Trier; Reed was the only school my parents forbade me to apply to (because it was so far away from home); the stories are endless.
In any case, I can't relay to you every one of these occurrences (although, please ask me!), so I will, instead, simply say that I come from the western end of Massachusetts. I call where I grew up an 'area' as opposed to a 'town' or 'city' since my town consists of 500 residents, I drove over 50 miles each way to school every day, and my frequent hang out spot was about 30 miles away from my home. The school I attended was a performing arts high school with a concentration in theatre and music, and I came to Reed expecting to be a Literature-Theatre major. In the end, I found a passion for political philosophy and switched over to the Political Science department. I like '70s mystery television shows (Columbo in particular), bad Chinese food, summer, and shoestring traveling.
Does this give you a better sense about who I am? I'm not so sure about that, but I hope you can get the sense that I would love to talk with you, whether about my life, Reed, theatre, politics, or anything else your or my heart desires. Maybe if we sit down and talk you'll see how great and helpful a good story is, and how confining simple definition-based bios can be.